Am I Doing Enough?

This week, I read JA Konrath’s blog about how to generate e-book sales. The blog was in response to a question he’s often asked: “How do I make sure I sell lots of e-books”? As you might imagine, there is no magic bullet. No one really knows why some books sell well while others, beautifully written and produced, languish. Konrath offers excellent tips about what works and doesn’t work for him, but what struck me was how much effort he’s put into promoting his work.

He states that most of his job isn’t spent writing, but promoting. He works, on average, 60 hours a week and, while he makes it clear this doesn’t guarantee bestseller status, it does create sales. He used to spend a great deal of time making appearances, having visited over 1,200 bookstores, traveled 40 states, and met with countless librarians, fans, and booksellers. He did a mass mailing to 7,000 libraries, and compiled a mailing list of 10,000 names, as well as attended scores of conventions, conferences, and book fairs. He goes onto say that he doesn’t do appearances anymore because they’re neither time or cost efficient.

After reading his blog, I felt like a lazy slug, and I work at my writing seven days a week. Because I’m trying to be more prolific, I spend more time writing than promoting. Maybe when I have 40 books to my credit like Konrath does, I’ll work more on promoting. Right now, I average 35 hours a week toward writing/promotion, and that’s working everyday of the week. I could probably put in longer days, but it would mean giving up family time, and family is too important to me.

Still, Konrath’s staggering promotional efforts made me take a closer look at my own. I keep records of all the conferences, signings, and fairs that I participate in. To my chagrin, I realized that I’ve only attended 65 events since 1987, and half of those in the last three years. It’s pretty obvious where I need to step up my efforts.

By the way, one of the promotional things Konrath endorses is guest blogging, and I wrote my first one this week on Amy Corwin’s wonderful blog: Fiction Writing and other Oddities. I wrote about the job research I did for The Opposite of Dark. It was a pleasure to write and I was grateful for the opportunity. It looks like I’ll be searching for more opportunities. The blog can be found at: http://amycorwin.blogspot.com/2011/05/guest-blog-debra-purdy-kong.html

JA Konrath’s blog is at http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/05/what-works-promo-for-ebooks.html

THE OPPOSITE OF DARK, http://bit.ly/i983XE, book trailer http://youtu.be/ojgoDKSW_ck
FATAL ENCRYPTION, http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl
TAXED TO DEATH, http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

A Couple of Things

This summer, I’ve been editing the first book in my new mystery series. This is draft number ten, but I have good reasons for tackling it again. First, the training I received for my current work in security has offered some deeper insights into policy and procedure changes for people working in this field. Since my protagonist is a transit security cop, it was important for me to update the way she handles certain situations.

Secondly, the manuscript is currently being considered by a publisher who generally publishes mysteries about 10,000 words shorter than mine. You see, no matter how finished you think you are with your manuscript, there’s always another draft down the road until the book is finally published. The good news is that I’ve been able to cut over 3,000 words so far. This is a bit surprising because when I submitted that book originally, I was convinced that it was as polished and tight as it could be. A year later, it’s quite clear I was wrong, but it’s also a good thing that so much time has passed because I might not have seen these things if I’d only taken a few weeks. I’m not sure how writers under contract to produce a book every year do it. Maybe they get it right the first or second time, or maybe they’re very lucky and have a great editor to help them peel away the extra layers.

The other thing I want to talk about is my guest spot on a terrific blog called Park Avenue Princess. The blog owner invited me to write a little about myself, and she’ll be posting a review. Four out of five tiaras, no less!! She's also offering a giveaway of Fatal Encryption which I believe goes on until September 17th. If you’re interested in winning a copy of my book, please visit http://tinyurl.com/p5zfpb. Thank you!

To read excerpts of Fatal Encryption and Taxed to Death, visit http://www.debrapurdykong.com/.

Fatal Encryption is available through amazon.com at http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl and Taxed to Death can be found at http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

Book clubs: Looking for next month's pick?

On Friday, June 20th, I'll be guest blogging over at Books on the Brain. Since it's the first time I've been a guest there, I decided to introduce myself, my books and cover the topic of book clubs, as they relate to what I have to offer.

I hope you'll check out my post, especially if you're in a book club that is looking for their next picks.

Check out Books on the Brain on June 20th.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif

http://www.cherylktardif.com/